Half Shot at Sunrise

Comedy team Wheeler and Woolsey are soldiers in WW I who go AWOL, impersonate military police, flirt with the locals, and cause havoc where-ever they go. Edna May Oliver is in here as the Colonel's wife, with her usual disapproving glances and sarcasm. The Tiller Girls perform a bit in the cafe. The boys pretend to speak french in a terrible, insulting fashion. and everyone pretends not to notice. This was one of their earlier films, and could use a restoration -- the version I saw had some rough spots in both sound and picture quality. It's a fun, light film. The usual sight and banter gags as all their other films, but it's fun to watch the vaudeville bits taped together into a film. Moves pretty slowly, as they try to stay one step ahead of the real MPs. Directed by Paul Sloane, who also directed them in "Cuckoos". I caught this one on Epix channel. It's entertaining.

Wheeler and Woolsey are two of my favorite comedians from this era. You just never know what to expect. This takes place in France during World War I, and while there is always an expected amount of sexual innuendo in their movies, (and in a lot of movies made before the codes) this one has the most I've seen yet. Ex. Cute innocent Dorothy Lee says to the boys she's about to turn in as A.W.O.L. for reward "I expect to make $500 from both of you tonight." to which Woolsey exclaims to Wheeler, "You're in Paris now boy"! Don't even get me started on Leni Stengel as the exotic Olga. I found this movie very enjoyable, even when things invariably get silly.

Tommy (Bert Wheeler) and Gilbert (Robert Woolsey) have gone AWOL from the army in Paris and are running around chasing girls. Col. Marshall (George MacFarlane) wants them arrested. However, his daughter Annette (Dorothy Lee) bumps into Tommy and they fall in love. Olga (Leni Stengel) meets with Gilbert and they also fall in love. Annette has a plan that will make heroes out of Tommy and Gilbert..............

Wheeler and Woolsey (the one with the glasses) act out various set-piece scenes, most of which are crammed with obvious one-liners and aren't very funny. Dorothy Lee is good in her scenes even if a little wooden at times - but she is not bad as the actors who play the military police. They are terrible! Mrs Marshall (Edna May Oliver) is the best of the cast.

There are 3 good bits in the film - the first dance with Wheeler and Lee (she is very good to watch); the 2nd dance with Wheeler, Wooster and Lee (watch her final landing and subsequent explanation as she jumps off a truck); and there is a funny moment at the restaurant where Tommy, disguised as a waiter, serves the food to the Colonel and his wife. That's your lot for entertainment - it's not a catastrophe but the film mostly drags.

A few years before Radio Pictures became RKO and started making big money with Fred and Ginger and King Kong, the studio churned out a series of outrageous Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, none sillier than this one made in 1930. The jokes come fast and furious, most terrible, but every once in awhile a good one lands. The delightful Dorothy Lee (who was to become a staple of many a W & W film in the future) sings and dances with Bert. The big surprise here is the performance of Berlin-born Leni Stengel as the French vamp Olga; she is not only sexy and vivacious but wonderfully funny. Why she never went on to a brilliant career as a comic actress is a mystery. The Paris street scenes designed by Max Ree and shot on the Hollywood backlot are particularly realistic, demonstrating how well-made even lesser Hollywood films were in the years when sound had just come in and everyone was experimenting. Wheeler and Woolsey are an acquired taste. Their bad jokes have a way of getting to you if you don't watch yourself.

Sure it seems more than a bit stale in this day and age, but consider the state of film when this was made. The audio is a bit weak, but sound in films was still a cutting edge concept. Much of the dialog regarding these two soldiers attempting to pick up women seems sanitized, but this was made a decade before Clark Gable uttered the word damn and caused an uproar. When you look back at it, Half Shot at Sunrise was probably well ahead of its time.

The thin plot involves two US army privates stationed in Paris during WWI who are constantly AWOL and looking to score with any and all ladies they encounter. One of the most pointless and destructive conflicts in history was happening all around them, but these two only care about scoring with women! At least they have their priorities straight! On their trail are a couple tough-talking MPs, a two-timing Colonel, his amorous daughter, and..... well there just isn't a lot of plot here. Some of the dialog is just too parsed to be taken seriously. "These men make love to every woman they meet," an MP warns the colonel's pretty young daughter after he learns she may be smitten by one of these two. Some of the jokes provide more than a few chuckles. In one scene, Woolsey and Wheeler are disguising themselves as officers to impress a table of French ladies. "Why don't you want to play a general?" one asks the other. "Because then there's no chance of promotion!" the other replies. Probably the biggest laugh I had was after one of them whispers a proposition into the ear of a French girl. She replies with a long angry response in her native language. "What did she say?" asks one of our heroes. "She said no," the other replies. Ha! If you want to see one of the earliest and tamest sex comedies imaginable, then check this film out. I think youtube has the entire thing available. See where some of our more contemporary filmmakers may have gotten some inspiration. One of these two main characters is named Tommy Turner. Just like the most raunchy member of the gang in Porkys! 6 of 10 stars.

The Hound.